Method and System for Cellular Network Services and an Intelligent Integrated Broadcast Television Downlink Having Intelligent Service Control with Feedback

ABSTRACT

In an RF communication system, aspects for cellular network and intelligent integrated broadcast television downlink with intelligent service control with feedback may comprise a mobile terminal (MT) generating a request for media comprising a specified quality of service (QoS) to be delivered to the mobile terminal. The request may be sent via a cellular service. The QoS may be negotiated between the MT and the cellular service and/or a broadcast service, where the cellular service and/or the broadcast service may provide the requested media. The specified QoS may be determined based on, for example, a received channel condition. The media may be received by the MT via a single integrated cellular and VHF/UHF baseband processor, and the received media may be consumed by the MT. The broadcast service may comprise, for example, a cellular broadcast service and VHF/UHF broadcast services such as, for example, DVB, ISDB, ISDB terrestrial, and ATSC services.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This is a Continuation Application that makes reference to, claimspriority to, and claims benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/010,743 (Attorney Docket No. 16339US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004.

This application also makes reference to:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,991 (Attorney Docket No.16330US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,847 (Attorney Docket No.16331US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,461 (Attorney Docket No.16332US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,877 (Attorney Docket No.16333US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,914 (Attorney Docket No.16334US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,486 (Attorney Docket No.16335US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,903 (Attorney Docket No.16336US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/011,009 (Attorney Docket No.16337US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,855 (Attorney Docket No.16338US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,983 Attorney Docket No.16340US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/011,000 (Attorney Docket No.16341US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,681 (Attorney Docket No.16342US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,883 (Attorney Docket No.16343US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/011,006 (Attorney Docket No.16344US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,487 (Attorney Docket No.16345US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,481 (Attorney Docket No.16346US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004; and

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/010,524 (Attorney Docket No.16348US01), filed Dec. 13, 2004.

All of the above stated applications are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to wireless transmission ofdata. More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate toa method and system for cellular network services and an intelligentintegrated broadcast television downlink having intelligent servicecontrol with feedback.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Broadcasting and telecommunications have historically occupied separatefields. In the past, broadcasting was largely an “over-the-air” mediumwhile wired media carried telecommunications. That distinction may nolonger apply as both broadcasting and telecommunications may bedelivered over either wired or wireless media. Present development mayadapt broadcasting to mobility services. One limitation has been thatbroadcasting may often require high bit rate data transmission at rateshigher than could be supported by existing mobile communicationsnetworks. However, with emerging developments in wireless communicationstechnology, even this obstacle may be overcome.

Terrestrial television and radio broadcast networks have made use ofhigh power transmitters covering broad service areas, which enableone-way distribution of content to user equipment such as televisionsand radios. By contrast, wireless telecommunications networks have madeuse of low power transmitters, which have covered relatively small areasknown as “cells”. Unlike broadcast networks, wireless networks may beadapted to provide two-way interactive services between users of userequipment such as telephones and computer equipment.

The introduction of cellular communications systems in the late 1970'sand early 1980's represented a significant advance in mobilecommunications. The networks of this period may be commonly known asfirst generation, or “1G” systems. These systems were based upon analog,circuit-switching technology, the most prominent of these systems mayhave been the advanced mobile phone system (AMPS). Second generation, or“2G” systems ushered improvements in performance over 1G systems andintroduced digital technology to mobile communications. Exemplary 2Gsystems include the global system for mobile communications (GSM),digital AMPS (D-AMPS), and code division multiple access (CDMA). Many ofthese systems have been designed according to the paradigm of thetraditional telephony architecture, often focused on circuit-switchedservices, voice traffic, and supported data transfer rates up to 14.4kbits/s. Higher data rates were achieved through the deployment of“2.5G” networks, many of which were adapted to existing 2G networkinfrastructures. The 2.5G networks began the introduction ofpacket-switching technology in wireless networks. However, it is theevolution of third generation, or “3G” technology that may introducefully packet-switched networks, which support high-speed datacommunications.

The general packet radio service (GPRS), which is an example of a 2.5Gnetwork service oriented for data communications, comprises enhancementsto GSM that required additional hardware and software elements inexisting GSM network infrastructures. Where GSM may allot a single timeslot in a time division multiple access (TDMA) frame, GPRS may allot upto 8 such time slots providing a data transfer rate of up to 115.2kbits/s. Another 2.5G network, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution(EDGE), also comprises enhancements to GSM, and like GPRS, EDGE mayallocate up to 8 time slots in a TDMA frame for packet-switched, orpacket mode, transfers. However, unlike GPRS, EDGE adapts 8 phase shiftkeying (8-PSK) modulation to achieve data transfer rates that may be ashigh as 384 kbits/s.

The universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) is an adaptationof a 3G system, which is designed to offer integrated voice, multimedia,and Internet access services to portable user equipment. The UMTS adaptswideband CDMA (WCDMA) to support data transfer rates, which may be ashigh as 2 Mbits/s. One reason why WCDMA may support higher data rates isthat WCDMA channels may have a bandwidth of 5 MHz versus the 200 kHzchannel bandwidth in GSM. A related 3G technology, high speed downlinkpacket access (HSDPA), is an Internet protocol (IP) based serviceoriented for data communications, which adapts WCDMA to support datatransfer rates of the order of 10 Mbits/s. HSDPA achieves higher datarates through a plurality of methods. For example, many transmissiondecisions may be made at the base station level, which is much closer tothe user equipment as opposed to being made at a mobile switching centeror office. These may include decisions about the scheduling of data tobe transmitted, when data are to be retransmitted, and assessments aboutthe quality of the transmission channel. HSDPA may also utilize variablecoding rates in transmitted data. HSDPA also supports 16-levelquadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) over a high-speed downlinkshared channel (HS-DSCH), which permits a plurality of users to share anair interface channel.

The multiple broadcast/multicast service (MBMS) is an IP datacastservice, which may be deployed in EDGE and UMTS networks. The impact ofMBMS is largely within the network in which a network element adapted toMBMS, the broadcast multicast service center (BM-SC), interacts withother network elements within a GSM or UMTS system to manage thedistribution of content among cells within a network. User equipment maybe required to support functions for the activation and deactivation ofMBMS bearer service. MBMS may be adapted for delivery of video and audioinformation over wireless networks to user equipment. MBMS may beintegrated with other services offered over the wireless network torealize multimedia services, such as multicasting, which may requiretwo-way interaction with user equipment.

Standards for digital television terrestrial broadcasting (DTTB) haveevolved around the world with different systems being adopted indifferent regions. The three leading DTTB systems are, the advancedstandards technical committee (ATSC) system, the digital video broadcastterrestrial (DVB-T) system, and the integrated service digitalbroadcasting terrestrial (ISDB-T) system. The ATSC system has largelybeen adopted in North America, South America, Taiwan, and South Korea.This system adapts trellis coding and 8-level vestigial sideband (8-VSB)modulation. The DVB-T system has largely been adopted in Europe, theMiddle East, Australia, as well as parts of Africa and parts of Asia.The DVB-T system adapts coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(COFDM). The ISDB-T system has been adopted in Japan and adaptsbandwidth segmented transmission orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (BST-OFDM). The various DTTB systems may differ inimportant aspects; some systems employ a 6 MHz channel separation, whileothers may employ 7 MHz or 8 MHz channel separations. Planning for theallocation of frequency spectrum may also vary among countries with somecountries integrating frequency allocation for DTTB services into theexisting allocation plan for legacy analog broadcasting systems. In suchinstances, broadcast towers for DTTB may be co-located with broadcasttowers for analog broadcasting services with both services beingallocated similar geographic broadcast coverage areas. In othercountries, frequency allocation planning may involve the deployment ofsingle frequency networks (SFNs), in which a plurality of towers,possibly with overlapping geographic broadcast coverage areas (alsoknown as “gap fillers”), may simultaneously broadcast identical digitalsignals. SFNs may provide very efficient use of broadcast spectrum as asingle frequency may be used to broadcast over a large coverage area incontrast to some of the conventional systems, which may be used foranalog broadcasting, in which gap fillers transmit at differentfrequencies to avoid interference.

Even among countries adopting a common DTTB system, variations may existin parameters adapted in a specific national implementation. Forexample, DVB-T not only supports a plurality of modulation schemes,comprising quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), 16-QAM, and 64 levelQAM (64-QAM), but DVB-T offers a plurality of choices for the number ofmodulation carriers to be used in the COFDM scheme. The “2K” modepermits 1,705 carrier frequencies that may carry symbols, each with auseful duration of 224 μs for an 8 MHz channel. In the “8K” mode thereare 6,817 carrier frequencies, each with a useful symbol duration of 896μs for an 8 MHz channel. In SFN implementations, the 2K mode may providecomparatively higher data rates but smaller geographical coverage areasthan may be the case with the 8K mode. Different countries adopting thesame system may also employ different channel separation schemes.

While 3G systems are evolving to provide integrated voice, multimedia,and data services to mobile user equipment, there may be compellingreasons for adapting DTTB systems for this purpose. One of the morenotable reasons may be the high data rates that may be supported in DTTBsystems. For example, DVB-T may support data rates of 15 Mbits/s in an 8MHz channel in a wide area SFN. There are also significant challenges indeploying broadcast services to mobile user equipment. Many handheldportable devices, for example, may require that services consume minimumpower to extend battery life to a level which may be acceptable tousers. Another consideration is the Doppler effect in moving userequipment, which may cause inter-symbol interference in receivedsignals. Among the three major DTTB systems, ISDB-T was originallydesigned to support broadcast services to mobile user equipment. WhileDVB-T may not have been originally designed to support mobilitybroadcast services, a number of adaptations have been made to providesupport for mobile broadcast capability. The adaptation of DVB-T tomobile broadcasting is commonly known as DVB handheld (DVB-H).

To meet requirements for mobile broadcasting the DVB-H specification maysupport time slicing to reduce power consumption at the user equipment,addition of a 4K mode to enable network operators to make tradeoffsbetween the advantages of the 2K mode and those of the 8K mode, and anadditional level of forward error correction on multiprotocolencapsulated data-forward error correction (MPE-FEC) to make DVB-Htransmissions more robust to the challenges presented by mobilereception of signals and to potential limitations in antenna designs forhandheld user equipment. DVB-H may also use the DVB-T modulationschemes, like QPSK and 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM),which may be most resilient to transmission errors. MPEG audio and videoservices may be more resilient to error than data, thus additionalforward error correction may not be required to meet DTTB serviceobjectives.

Time slicing may reduce power consumption in user equipment byincreasing the burstiness of data transmission. Instead of transmittingdata at the received rate, under time slicing techniques, thetransmitter may delay the sending of data to user equipment and senddata later but at a higher bit rate. This may reduce total datatransmission time over the air, time, which may be used to temporarilypower down the receiver at the user equipment. Time slicing may alsofacilitate service handovers as user equipment moves from one cell toanother because the delay time imposed by time slicing may be used tomonitor transmitters in neighboring cells. The MPE-FEC may compriseReed-Solomon coding of IP data packets, or packets using other dataprotocols. The 4K mode in DVB-H may utilize 3,409 carriers, each with auseful duration of 448 μs for an 8 MHz channel. The 4K mode may enablenetwork operators to realize greater flexibility in network design atminimum additional cost. Importantly, DVB-T and DVB-H may coexist in thesame geographical area. Transmission parameter signaling (TPS) bits thatare carried in the header of transmitted messages may indicate whether agiven DVB transmission is DVB-T or DVB-H, in addition to indicatingwhether DVB-H specific features, such as time slicing, or MPE-FEC are tobe performed at the receiver. As time slicing may be a mandatory featureof DVB-H, an indication of time slicing in the TPS may indicate that thereceived information is from a DVB-H service.

In a handheld device, battery life may be a concern. As discussed,transmission technology may affect the battery life. More generally, thehandset battery life may be affected by the system components, includingthe number of chips in the handset. The handset battery life may also beaffected by the frequency at which the components operate—the faster theoperating speed, the higher the power consumption. Additionally, themobility of the handheld device may present problems. As the handhelddevice moves with respect to a transmitting antenna, the signalscommunicated to and/or from the handheld device may be degraded, forexample, due to signal interference from other RF signals and/or “deadzones” where signal strength decreases suddenly. At times, the handhelddevice may move out of range of the transmitting antenna, resulting inloss of signal from the transmitting antenna.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method for cellular network services and an intelligentintegrated broadcast television downlink having intelligent servicecontrol with feedback, substantially as shown in and/or described inconnection with at least one of the figures, as set forth morecompletely in the claims.

Various advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention,as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be morefully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a is a block diagram of exemplary system for providing integratedservices between a cellular network and a digital video broadcastnetwork, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 b is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of theexemplary system of FIG. 1 a for providing integrated services between acellular network and a digital video broadcast network, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 c is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of theexemplary system of FIG. 1 a for providing integrated services between acellular network and a digital video broadcast network, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 d is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of theexemplary system of FIG. 1 a for providing integrated services between acellular network and a digital video broadcast network, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 e is a high-level block diagram of exemplary DVB-H receivercircuitry in a mobile terminal, which may be utilized in connection withan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 f is a block diagram illustrating the sharing of a multiplexer(MUX) by a plurality of MPEG2 services, which may be utilized inconnection with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 a is a block diagram of a mobile terminal that is adapted toreceive VHF/UHF broadcasts and cellular communications, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 b is a block diagram illustrating receive processing circuit ofan RF integrated circuit (RFIC), in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 c is a block diagram of exemplary RF receiver system, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 a is a high-level block diagram illustrating exemplary radiofrequency integrated circuit (RFIC) and baseband processor (BBP)configuration that may be utilized in connection with an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 3 b is a block diagram illustrating exemplary baseband processorintegrated circuit (BBPIC), such as, for example, the BBPIC of FIG. 3 a,in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 c is a block diagram illustrating exemplary coupling of the BBPICof FIG. 3 a to a plurality of peripherals, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 d is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary coupling of theBBPIC of FIG. 3 a to a plurality of peripherals, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 e is a block diagram illustrating exemplary coupling of the BBPICof FIG. 3 a to a plurality of peripherals, including RFFEs and a singleantenna, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 f is an exemplary flow diagram illustrating receiving an RFsignal, converting the RF signal to a baseband signal, and calculatingand feeding back quality of service (QOS) information, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 g is a block diagram illustrating exemplary communication betweena mobile terminal and a plurality of different communication paths, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and systemfor cellular network services and an intelligent integrated broadcasttelevision downlink having intelligent service control with feedback.Aspects of the method may comprise a mobile terminal generating arequest for media and a specified quality of service (QoS) fordelivering the media to the mobile terminal. The request may be sent,for example, via a cellular service. The mobile terminal may communicatewith the cellular service via uplink and downlink communication paths.The QoS may be negotiated, for example, between the mobile terminal andthe cellular service and/or a broadcast service, where the cellularservice and/or the broadcast service may provide the requested media.The specified QoS may be based on, for example, a received channelcondition. The requested media may be received by the mobile terminalvia a single integrated cellular and VHF/UHF baseband processor, and thereceived media may be consumed by the mobile terminal.

The broadcast service may comprise, for example, a cellular broadcastservice and/or VHF/UHF broadcast service. The cellular broadcast servicemay comprise, for example, downlink communication only, or downlink anduplink communication. The cellular broadcast service and/or the cellularservice may be provided by, for example, a wireless service provider.The VHF/UHF broadcast service may comprise, for example, digital videobroadcasting (DVB) service, integrated service digital broadcasting(ISDB) service, integrated service digital broadcasting (ISDB)terrestrial service, and/or advanced television systems committee (ATSC)broadcast service. The requested media may be received by dynamicallyswitching from the cellular service to the broadcast service if thecellular service is not able to support the specified QoS while thebroadcast service is able to support the specified QoS. Similarly, therequested media may be received by dynamically switching from thebroadcast service to the cellular service. Additionally, a portion ofthe requested media with the specified QoS may be received from thebroadcast service and another portion of the requested media with thespecified QoS may be received from the cellular service. The requestedmedia may be received via, for example, global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), enhanced datarates for GSM evolution (EDGE), code division multiple access 2000(CDMA2000), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), high speed downlink packet access(HSDPA) systems, and/or multiple broadcast/multicast service (MBMS).

FIG. 1 a is a block diagram of an exemplary system for providingintegrated services between a cellular network and a digital videobroadcast network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Referring to FIG. 1 a, there is shown terrestrial broadcaster network102, wireless service provider network 104, service provider 106, portal108, public switched telephone network 110, and mobile terminals (MTs)116 a and 116 b. The terrestrial broadcaster network 102 may comprisetransmitter (Tx) 102 a, multiplexer (Mux) 102 b, and information contentsource 114. The content source 114 may also be referred to as a datacarousel, which may comprise audio, data and video content. Theterrestrial broadcaster network 102 may also comprise VHF/UHF broadcastantennas 112 a and 112 b. The wireless service provider network 104 maycomprise mobile switching center (MSC) 118 a, and a plurality ofcellular base stations 104 a, 104 b, 104 c, and 104 d.

The terrestrial broadcaster network 102 may comprise suitable equipmentthat may be adapted to encode and/or encrypt data for transmission viathe transmitter 102 a. The transmitter 102 a in the terrestrialbroadcast network 102 may be adapted to utilize VHF/UHF broadcastchannels to communicate information to the mobile terminals 116 a, 116b. The multiplexer 102 b associated with the terrestrial broadcasternetwork 102 may be utilized to multiplex data from a plurality ofsources. For example, the multiplexer 102 b may be adapted to multiplexvarious types of information such as audio, video and/or data into asingle pipe for transmission by the transmitter 102 a. Content mediafrom the portal 108, which may be handled by the service provider 106may also be multiplexed by the multiplexer 102 b. The portal 108 may bean ISP service provider. Although DVB is illustrated as the VHF/UHFstandard, the invention is not limited in this regard. Accordingly,ATSC, ISDB or other VHF/UHF standard may be utilized.

In one aspect of the invention, the terrestrial broadcaster network 102may be adapted to provide one or more digital television (DTV) channelsto the service provider 106. In this regard, the terrestrial broadcasternetwork 102 may comprise suitable high-speed or broadband interfacesthat may be utilized to facilitate transfer of the DTV channels from theterrestrial broadcast network 102 to the service provider. The serviceprovider 106 may then utilize at least a portion of the DTV channels toprovide television (TV) on demand service, or other similar types ofservices to the wireless service provider network 104. Accordingly, theservice provider 106 may further comprise suitable high-speed orbroadband interfaces that may be utilized to facilitate the transfer ofrelated TV on demand information to the MSC 118 a.

Although communication links between the terrestrial broadcast network102 and the service provider 106, and also the communication linksbetween the service provider 106 and the wireless service provider 104may be wired communication links, the invention may be not so limited.Accordingly, at least one of these communication links may be wirelesscommunication links. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, atleast one of these communication links may be an 802.x basedcommunication link such as 802.16 or WiMax broadband accesscommunication link. In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, atleast one of these connections may be a broadband line of sight (LOS)connection.

The wireless service provider network 104 may be a cellular or personalcommunication service (PCS) provider that may be adapted to handlebroadcast UMTS (B-UMTS). The term cellular as utilized herein refers toboth cellular and PCS frequencies bands. Hence, usage of the termcellular may comprise any band of frequencies that may be utilized forcellular communication and/or any band of frequencies that may beutilized for PCS communication. Notwithstanding, broadcast UMTS (B-UMTS)may also be referred to as MBMS. MBMS is a high-speed data service thatis overlaid on WCDMA to provide much higher data rates than may beprovided by core WCDMA. In this regard, the B-UMTS services may besuperimposed on the cellular or PCS network.

The wireless service provider network 104 may utilize cellular or PCSaccess technologies such as GSM, CDMA, CDMA2000, WCDMA, AMPS, N-AMPS,and/or TDMA. The cellular network may be utilized to offerbi-directional services via uplink and downlink communication channels,while the B-UMTS or MBMS network may be utilized to provide aunidirectional broadband services via a downlink channel. The B-UMTS orMBMS unidirectional downlink channel may be utilized to broadcastcontent media and/or multimedia type information to the mobile terminals116 a and 116 b. Although MBMS provides only unidirectional downlinkcommunication, the invention may be not so limited. In this regard,other bi-directional communication methodologies comprising uplink anddownlink capabilities, whether symmetric or asymmetric, may be utilized.

Although the wireless service provider network 104 is illustrated as aGSM, CDMA, WCDMA based network and/or variants thereof, the invention isnot limited in this regard. Accordingly, the wireless service providernetwork 104 may be an 802.11 based wireless network or wireless localarea network (WLAN). The wireless service provider network 104 may alsobe adapted to provide 802.11 based wireless communication in addition toGSM, CDMA, WCDMA, CDMA2000 based network and/or variants thereof. Inthis case, the mobile terminals 116 a, 116 b may also be compliant withthe 802.11 based wireless network.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention, if themobile terminal (MT) 116 a is within an operating range of the VHF/UHFbroadcasting antenna 112 a and moves out of the latter's operating rangeand into an operating range of the VHF/UHF broadcasting antenna 112 b,then VHF/UHF broadcasting antenna 112 b may be adapted to provideVHF/UHF broadcast services to the mobile terminal 116 a. If the mobileterminal 116 a subsequently moves back into the operating range of theVHF/UHF broadcasting antenna 112 a, then the broadcasting antenna 112 amay be adapted to provide VHF/UHF broadcasting service to the mobileterminal 116 a. In a somewhat similar manner, if the mobile terminal(MT) 116 b is within an operating range of the VHF/UHF broadcastingantenna 112 b and moves out of the latter's operating range and into anoperating range of the broadcasting antenna 112 a, then the VHF/UHFbroadcasting antenna 112 a may be adapted to provide VHF/UHFbroadcasting service to the mobile terminal 116 b. If the mobileterminal 116 b subsequently moves back into the operating range ofbroadcasting antenna 112 b, then the VHF/UHF broadcasting antenna 112 bmay be adapted to provide VHF/UHF broadcast services to the mobileterminal 116 b.

The service provider 106 may comprise suitable interfaces, circuitry,logic and/or code that may be adapted to facilitate communicationbetween the terrestrial broadcasting network 102 and the wirelesscommunication network 104. In an illustrative embodiment of theinvention the service provider 106 may be adapted to utilize itsinterfaces to facilitate exchange control information with theterrestrial broadcast network 102 and to exchange control informationwith the wireless service provider 104. The control informationexchanged by the service provider 106 with the terrestrial broadcastingnetwork 102 and the wireless communication network 104 may be utilizedto control certain operations of the mobile terminals, the terrestrialbroadcast network 102 and the wireless communication network 104.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the service provider106 may also comprise suitable interfaces, circuitry, logic and/or codethat may be adapted to handle network policy decisions. For example, theservice provider 106 may be adapted to manage a load on the terrestrialbroadcast network 102 and/or a load on the wireless service providernetwork 104. Load management may be utilized to distribute the flow ofinformation throughout the terrestrial broadcast network 102 and/or aload on the wireless service provider network 104. For example, ifinformation is to be broadcasted via the wireless service providernetwork 104 to a plurality of mobile terminals within a particular cellhandled by the base station 104 a and it is determined that this mayoverload the wireless service provider network 104, then the terrestrialbroadcast network 102 may be configured to broadcast the information tothe mobile terminals.

The service provider 106 may also be adapted to handle certain types ofservice requests, which may have originated from a mobile terminal. Forexample, the mobile terminal 116 a may request that information bedelivered to it via a downlink VHF/UHF broadcast channel. However, adownlink VHF/UHF broadcast channel may be unavailable for the deliveryof the requested information. As a result, the service provider 106 mayroute the requested information through an MBMS channel via the basestation 104 c to the mobile terminal 116 a. The requested informationmay be acquired from the content source 114 and/or the portal 108. Inanother example, the mobile terminal 116 b may request that informationbe delivered to it via a downlink cellular channel. However, the serviceprovider 106 may determine that delivery of the information is notcritical and/or the cheapest way to deliver to the mobile terminal 116 bis via a downlink VHF/UHF broadcast channel. As a result, the serviceprovider 106 may route the requested information from the portal 108 orcontent service 114 to the mobile terminal 116 b. The service provider106 may also have the capability to send at least a portion ofinformation to be delivered to, for example, mobile terminal 116 a viathe VHF/UHF broadcast channel and a remaining portion of the informationto be delivered via the cellular broadcast channel.

In an embodiment of the invention, the service provider 106 may beadapted to receive and process quality of service (QoS) relatedinformation from the mobile terminals 116 a, 116 b, the wireless serviceprovider 104 and/or the broadcast service provider. In an embodiment ofthe invention, any one of the mobile terminals 116 a, 116 b may requestthat information have a certain QoS be delivered to via a specified partor any part that may have to capability to supply the requestedinformation.

In another embodiment of the invention, the service provider 106 may beadapted to autonomously control the QoS that is provided to the mobileterminal 116 a and 116 b. In this regard, the service provider 106 maybe adapted to monitor, for example, condition on link that may beutilized to communicate with the mobile terminals 116 a, and 116 b. Forexample, the service provider 106 may be request information related toRF channel conditions from each of the mobile terminals 116 a, 116 b,the wireless service provider 104 and/or the broadcast service provider102.

The service provider 106 may also be adapted to acquire informationregarding a load on the terrestrial broadcast network 102 and a load onthe wireless service provider network 104. Accordingly, based on thedetermined load, the service provider 106 may be adapted to control howdata may be routed over the terrestrial broadcast network 102 and/or thewireless service provider network 104 to utilizing QoS relatedinformation. For example, if the service provider 106 determines thatthe wireless service provider 104 is congested, then most of therequested information that is to be delivered to the mobile terminal 116a may be delivered via the terrestrial broadcast service provider 102.If the service provider 106 determines that the terrestrial broadcastservice provider 102 is congested, then most of the requestedinformation that is to be delivered to the mobile terminal 116 a may bedelivered via the wireless service provider 104. The service provider106 may also be adapted to partition delivery of requested informationto the mobile terminal 116 a. In this regard, based on a load on thewireless service provider 104 and the terrestrial service provider 102,a portion of requested information may be routed through the wirelessservice provider 104 to the mobile terminal 116 a and at least aremaining portion of the requested information may be routed through theterrestrial service provider 102 to the mobile terminal 116 a.

The portal 108 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry and/or code thatmay be adapted to provide content media to the service provider 106 viaone or more communication links. These communication links, although notshown, may comprise wired and/or wireless communication links. Thecontent media that may be provided by the portal 108 may comprise audio,data, video or any combination thereof. In this regard, the portal 108may be adapted to provide one or more specialized information servicesto the service provider 106.

The public switched telephone network (PSTN) 110 may be coupled to theMSC 118 a. Accordingly, the MSC 118 a may be adapted to switch callsoriginating from within the PSTN 110 to one or more mobile terminalsserviced by the wireless service provider 104. Similarly, the MSC 118 amay be adapted to switch calls originating from mobile terminalsserviced by the wireless service provider 104 to one or more telephonesserviced by the PSTN 110.

The information content source 114 may comprise a data carousel. In thisregard, the information content source 114 may be adapted to providevarious information services, which may comprise online data includingaudio, video and data content. The information content source 114 mayalso comprise file download, and software download capabilities. Ininstances where a mobile terminal fails to acquire requested informationfrom the information content source 114 or the requested information isunavailable, then the mobile terminal may acquire the requestedinformation via, for example, a B-UMTS from the portal 108. The requestmay be initiated through an uplink cellular communication path.

The mobile terminals (MTs) 116 a and 116 b may comprise suitable logic,circuitry and/or code that may be adapted to handle the processing ofuplink and downlink cellular channels for various access technologiesand broadcast VHF/UHF technologies. In an exemplary embodiment of theinvention, the mobile terminals 116 a, 116 b may be adapted to utilizeone or more cellular access technologies such as GSM, GPRS, EDGE, CDMA,WCDMA, CDMA2000, HSDPA and MBMS (B-UMTS). The mobile terminal may alsobe adapted to receive and process VHF/UHF broadcast signals in theVHF/UHF bands. For example, a mobile terminal may be adapted to receiveand process DVB-H signals. A mobile terminal may be adapted to requestinformation via a first cellular service and in response, receivecorresponding information via a VHF/UHF broadcast service. A mobileterminal may also be adapted to request information from a serviceprovider via a cellular service and in response, receive correspondinginformation via a data service, which is provided via the cellularservice. The mobile terminals may also be adapted to receive VHF/UHFbroadcast information from either the base stations 104 a, 104 b, 104 c,104 d or the VHF/UHF broadcast antennas 112 a and 112 b. In instanceswhere a mobile terminal receives broadcast information from any of thebase stations 104 a, 104 b, 104 c, or 104 d via a downlink MBMScommunication channel, then the mobile terminal may communicatecorresponding uplink information via an uplink cellular communicationchannel.

In one embodiment of the invention, a mobile terminal may be adapted toutilize a plurality of broadcast integrated circuits for receiving andprocessing VHF/UHF channels, and a plurality of cellular integratedcircuits for receiving and processing cellular or PCS channels. In thisregard, the plurality of cellular integrated circuits may be adapted tohandle different cellular access technologies. For example, at least oneof the cellular integrated circuits may be adapted to handle GSM, and atleast one of the cellular integrated circuits may be adapted to handleWCDMA. For broadcast channels, each of the plurality of broadcastintegrated circuits may be adapted to handle at least one VHF/UHFchannel.

In another embodiment of the invention, a mobile terminal may be adaptedto utilize a single broadcast integrated circuit for receiving andprocessing VHF/UHF channels, and a single cellular integrated circuitfor receiving and processing cellular or PCS channels. In this regard,the single cellular integrated circuit may be adapted to handledifferent cellular access technologies. For example, at least one of thecellular integrated circuit may be adapted to handle GSM, and at leastone of the cellular integrated circuits may be adapted to handle WCDMA.For broadcast channels, the single broadcast integrated circuit may beadapted to handle at least one VH/UHF channel. Each of the mobileterminals may comprise a single memory interface that may be adapted tohandle processing of the broadcast communication information andprocessing of cellular communication information. In this regard, anuplink cellular communication path may be utilized to facilitatereceiving of broadcast information via a broadcast communication path.

In another embodiment of the invention, a mobile terminal may be adaptedto utilize a single integrated circuit for receiving and processingbroadcast VHF/UHF channels, and for receiving and processing cellular orPCS channels. In this regard, the single broadcast and cellularintegrated circuit may be adapted to handle different cellular accesstechnologies. For example, the single integrated circuit may comprise aplurality of modules each of which may be adapted to receive and processa particular cellular access technology or a VHF/UHF broadcast channel.Accordingly, a first module may be adapted to handle GSM, a secondmodule may be adapted to handle WCDMA, and a third module may be adaptedto handle at least one VHF/UHF channel.

In operation, with reference to FIG. 1 a, a mobile terminal 116 a mayrequest service via a wireless service provider network 104 withspecified quality of service (QoS) criteria. The service providernetwork 106 may take the QoS request into consideration in determininghow to establish the service to the mobile terminal 116 a. The mobileterminal 116 a may establish a communication to a service provider 106via the wireless service provider network 104. The mobile terminal 116 amay request content from the service provider 106 via the wirelessservice provider network 104. The service provider 106 may determine theQoS required to deliver the program to the mobile terminal 116 a. If theservice provider 106 determines that the QoS requirements to deliver thecontent to the mobile terminal 116 a cannot be met via the wirelessservice provider network 104, the content may be delivered via theterrestrial broadcast network 102.

Upon determining that the program content is to be delivered via theterrestrial broadcast network 102, the service provider 106 may send arequest to the terrestrial broadcast network 102 to communicate thecontent requested by the mobile terminal 116 a. The terrestrialbroadcast network 102 may reply to the service provider 106 indicating aVHF/UHF channel assignment, which may be utilized to broadcast thecontent. The service provider 106 may communicate to the mobile terminal116 a via the wireless service provider network 104 indicating that thedesired content will be delivered via the terrestrial broadcast network102 via the assigned VHF/UHF channel. The service provider 106 mayinitiate transfer of content to the terrestrial broadcast network 102.The mobile terminal 116 a, may select the assigned VHF/UHF broadcastchannel and begin reception of the content requested by the mobileterminal 116 a. The mobile terminal 116 a may terminate communicationwith the service provider 106 via the wireless service provider network104.

FIG. 1 b is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of theexemplary system of FIG. 1 a for providing integrated services between acellular network and a digital video broadcast network, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1 b, there isshown terrestrial broadcaster network 102, wireless service providernetwork 104, service provider 106, portal 108, public switched telephonenetwork 110, and mobile terminals (MTs) 116 a and 116 b. The terrestrialbroadcaster network 102 may comprise transmitter (Tx) 102 a, multiplexer(Mux) 102 b, and VHF/UHF broadcast antennas 112 a and 112 b. AlthoughVHF/UHF broadcast antenna 112 b is illustrated separately from theterrestrial broadcast network 102, it may still be part of theterrestrial broadcast network 102. The wireless service provider network104 may comprise mobile switching center (MSC) 118 a, and a plurality ofcellular base stations 104 a, 104 b, 104 c, and 104 d.

The system of FIG. 1 b is somewhat similar to the FIG. 1 a with theexception that FIG. 1 b has the content source 114 located external tothe terrestrial broadcast network 102. The content source 114, which mayalso be referred to as a data carousel, may comprise audio, data andvideo content. At least a portion of the audio, data and/or videocontent stored in the content source 114 may be linked so that ifinformation cannot be retrieved from the content source 114, then it maybe received from the portal 108. In the system of FIG. 1 b, a providerother than the terrestrial broadcaster 102 may manage the content source114. Notwithstanding, the audio, video and/or data from the contentsource 114 may still be multiplexed by the multiplexer 102 b in theterrestrial broadcast network 114.

FIG. 1 c is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of theexemplary system of FIG. 1 a for providing integrated services between acellular network and a digital video broadcast network, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1 c, there isshown terrestrial broadcaster network 102, wireless service providernetwork 104, portal 108, public switched telephone network 110, andmobile terminals (MTs) 116 a and 116 b. The terrestrial broadcasternetwork 102 may comprise transmitter (Tx) 102 a, multiplexer (Mux) 102b, service provider 106, and VHF/UHF broadcast antennas 112 a and 112 b.The wireless service provider network 104 may comprise mobile switchingcenter (MSC) 118 a, and a plurality of cellular base stations 104 a, 104b, 104 c, and 104 d.

The system of FIG. 1 c is somewhat similar to the FIG. 1 a with theexception that FIG. 1 b has the service provider 106 co-located with theterrestrial broadcast network 102. In this regard, the terrestrialbroadcast network 102 may control the functions of the service provider106. Since the terrestrial broadcast network 102 controls the functionsof the service provider, the broadcast services may be more efficientlyprovided to the mobile terminals via the MBMS path provided by thewireless service provider 104 and/or the VHF/UHF broadcast downlink pathprovided by the terrestrial broadcaster network 102. Hence, instead ofhaving to send information to an externally located service provider,the integrated control and logic services provided the terrestrialbroadcaster network 102 and service provider 106 may instantly makedecisions of how best to handle information for a mobile terminal.

FIG. 1 d is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of theexemplary system of FIG. 1 a for providing integrated services between acellular network and a digital video broadcast network, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1 d, there isshown terrestrial broadcaster network 102, wireless service providernetwork 104, portal 108, public switched telephone network 110, andmobile terminals (MTs) 116 a and 116 b. The terrestrial broadcasternetwork 102 may comprise transmitter (Tx) 102 a, multiplexer (Mux) 102b, and VHF/UHF broadcast antennas 112 a and 112 b. The wireless serviceprovider network 104 may comprise service provider 106, mobile switchingcenter (MSC) 118 a, and a plurality of cellular base stations 104 a, 104b, 104 c, and 104 d.

The system of FIG. 1 d is somewhat similar to the FIG. 1 a with theexception that FIG. 1 b has the service provider 106 co-located with thewireless service provider network 104. In this regard, the wirelessservice provider network 104 may control the functions of the serviceprovider 106. Since the wireless service provider network 104 controlsthe functions of the service provider 106, the broadcast services may bemore efficiently provided to the mobile terminals via the MBMS pathprovided by the wireless service provider 104 and/or the VHF/UHFbroadcast downlink path provided by the terrestrial broadcaster network102. Hence, instead of having to send information to an externallylocated service provider 106 as illustrated in FIG. 1 a, the integratedcontrol and logic services provided the service provider 106 mayinstantly make decisions of how best to handle communication ofinformation for a mobile terminal.

In another embodiment of the invention, since many of the servicesprovided by the service provider 106 may already be integrated into thewireless service provider's 104 infrastructure, then the complexity ofthe service provider functions may be significantly reduced. Forexample, the wireless service provider 104, the latter of which alreadyhas the pertinent infrastructure in place, may now handle operationadministration maintenance and provisioning (OAM&P) functions, which maybe required by the service provider 106. Since the uplink capabilitiesare inherent in only the wireless service provider network 104, and theservice provider function are also located within the service providernetwork 106, the uplink capabilities for the mobile stations 116 a, 116b may be more efficiently managed from within the wireless serviceprovider network 104.

The FIGS. 1 a-d illustrate intelligent integrated services between thecellular network and the digital video broadcast network. However,another embodiment may be where there is high integration between thecellular network and the digital video broadcast network without theintelligent service capability. U.S. application Ser. No. 11/010,461(Attorney Docket No. 16332US01) is filed on the even date herewith anddiscloses the alternate embodiment.

FIG. 1 e is a high-level block diagram of exemplary DVB-H receivercircuitry in a mobile terminal, which may be utilized in connection withan embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1 e, there is shown amobile terminal 130. The mobile terminal 130 may comprise a DVB-Hdemodulator 132 and processing circuitry block 142. The DVB-Hdemodulator block 132 may comprise a DVB-T demodulator 134, time slicingblock 138, and MPE-FEC block 140.

The DVB-T demodulator 134 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/orcode that may be adapted to demodulate a terrestrial DVB signal. In thisregard, the DVB-T demodulator 134 may be adapted to downconvert areceived DVB-T signal to a suitable bit rate that may be handled by themobile terminal 130. The DVB-T demodulator may be adapted to handle 2k,4k and/or 8k modes.

The time slicing block 138 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/orcode that may be adapted to minimize power consumption in the mobileterminal 130, particularly in the DVB-T demodulator 134. In general,time slicing reduces average power consumption in the mobile terminal bysending data in bursts via much higher instantaneous bit rates. In orderto inform the DVB-T demodulator 134 when a next burst is going to besent, a delta indicating the start of the next burst is transmittedwithin a current burst. During transmission, no data for an elementarystream (ES) is transmitted so as to allow other elementary streams tooptimally share the bandwidth. Since the DVB-T demodulator 134 knowswhen the next burst will be received, the DVB-T demodulator 134 mayenter a power saving mode between bursts in order to consume less power.Reference 144 indicates a control mechanism that handles the DVB-Tdemodulator 134 power via the time slicing block 138. The DVB-Tdemodulator 134 may also be adapted to utilize time slicing to monitordifferent transport streams from different channels. For example, theDVB-T demodulator 134 may utilize time slicing to monitor neighboringchannels between bursts to optimize handover.

The MPE-FEC block 140 may comprise suitable circuitry, logic and/or codethat may be adapted to provide error correction during decoding. On theencoding side, MPE-FEC encoding provides improved carrier to noise ratio(C/N), improved Doppler performance, and improved tolerance tointerference resulting from impulse noise. During decoding, the MPE-FECblock 140 may be adapted to determine parity information from previouslyMPE-FEC encoded datagrams. As a result, during decoding, the MPE-FECblock 140 may generate datagrams that are error-free even in instanceswhen received channel conditions are poor. The processing circuitryblock 142 may comprise suitable processor, circuitry, logic and/or codethat may be adapted to process IP datagrams generated from an output ofthe MPE-FEC block 140. The processing circuitry block 142 may also beadapted to process transport stream packets from the DVB-T demodulator134.

In operation, the DVB-T demodulator 134 may be adapted to receive aninput DVB-T RF signal, demodulate the received input DVB-T RF signal soas to generate data at a much lower bit rate. In this regard, the DVB-Tdemodulator 134 recovers MPEG-2 transport stream (TS) packets from theinput DVB-T RF signal. The MPE-FEC block 140 may then correct any errorthat may be located in the data and the resulting IP datagrams may besent to the processing circuitry block 142 for processing. Transportstream packets from the DVB-T demodulator 134 may also be communicatedto the processing circuitry block 142 for processing.

FIG. 1 f is a block diagram illustrating the sharing of a multiplexer(MUX) by a plurality of MPEG2 services, which may be utilized inconnection with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1 f,there is shown a transmitter block 150, a receiver block 151 and achannel 164. The transmitter block 150 may comprise a DVB-H encapsulatorblock 156, a multiplexer 158, and a DVB-T modulator 162. Also shownassociated with the transmitter block 150 is a plurality of service datacollectively referenced as 160. The receiver block 151 may comprise aDVB-H demodulator block 166 and a DVB-H decapsulation block 168.

The DVB-H encapsulator block 156 may comprise MPE block 156 a, MPE-FECblock 156 b and time slicing block 156 c.

The multiplexer 156 may comprise suitable logic circuitry and/or codethat may be adapted to handle multiplexing of IP encapsulated DVB-H dataand service data. The plurality of service data collectively referencedas 160 may comprise MPEG-2 formatted data, which may comprise forexample, audio, video and/or data.

The DVB-T modulator 162 may comprise suitable logic circuitry and/orcode that may be adapted to generate an output RF signal from thetransmitter block 150.

The DVB-H demodulator block 166 associated with the receiver block 151is similar to the DVB-H demodulator block 132 of FIG. 1 e. The DVB-Hdecapsulation block 168 may comprise MPE block 168 a, MPE-FEC block 168b and time slicing block 168 c. The DVB-H decapsulation block 168 maycomprise suitable logic, circuitry and/or code that may be adapteddecapsulate the IP data that was encapsulated and multiplexed by thetransmitter block 150. The output of the DVB-H demodulator 166 is thetransport stream packets, which comprised the multiplexed outputgenerated by the multiplexer 158.

FIG. 2 a is a block diagram of a mobile terminal that is adapted toreceive VHF/UHF broadcasts and cellular communications, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2 a, there isshown mobile terminal (MT) or handset 202. The mobile terminal 202 maycomprise multiplexer (MUX) 204 and processing circuitry 206.

The multiplexer 204 may comprise suitable logic circuitry and/or codethat may be adapted to multiplex incoming signals, which may compriseVHF/UHF broadcast channel and at least one cellular channel. Thecellular channel may be within the range of both cellular and PCSfrequency bands.

The processing circuitry 206 may comprise, for example, an RF integratedcircuit (RFIC) or RF front end (RFFE). In this regard, the processingcircuitry 206 may comprise at least one receiver front end (RFE)circuit. A first of these circuits may be adapted to handle processingof the VHF/UHF broadcast channel and a second of these circuits may beadapted to handle a cellular channel. In an embodiment of the invention,a single RFIC may comprise a plurality of RFE processing circuits, eachof which may be adapted to process a particular cellular channel.Accordingly, a single RFIC comprising a plurality of cellular RFEprocessing circuits may be adapted to handle a plurality of cellularchannels. In one embodiment of the invention, a plurality of VHF/UHF RFEprocessing circuits may be integrated in a single RFIC. In this regard,a mobile terminal may be adapted to simultaneously handle a plurality ofdifferent VHF/UHF channels. For example, a mobile terminal may beadapted to simultaneously receive a first VHF/UHF channel bearing videoand a second VHF/UHF channel bearing audio.

FIG. 2 b is a block diagram illustrating receive processing circuit ofan RF integrated circuit (RFIC), in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 2 b, there is shown antenna 211, receiverfront end (RFE) circuit 210, and baseband processing block 224. Thereceiver front end (RFE) circuit 210 may comprise a low noise amplifier(LNA) 212, a mixer 214, an oscillator 216, a low noise amplifier oramplifier or amplifier 218, a low pass filter 220 and ananalog-to-digital converter (A/D) 222.

The antenna 211 may be adapted to receive at least one of a plurality ofsignals. For example, the antenna 211 may be adapted to receive aplurality of signals in the GSM band, a plurality of signals in theWCDMA and/or a plurality of signals in the VHF/UHF band. U.S.application Ser. No. 11/010,883 (Attorney Docket No. 16343US01), U.S.application Ser. No. 11/011,006 (Attorney Docket No. 16344US01), U.S.application Ser. No. 11/010,487 (Attorney Docket No. 16345US01), all ofwhich are filed on even date herewith and disclose various antennaconfigurations that may be utilized for a plurality of operatingfrequency bands.

The receiver front end (RFE) circuit 210 may comprise suitablecircuitry, logic and/or code that may be adapted to convert a receivedRF signal down to baseband. An input of the low noise amplifier 212 maybe coupled to the antenna 211 so that it may receive RF signals from theantenna 211. The low noise amplifier 212 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and/or code that may be adapted to receive an input RF signalfrom the antenna 211 and amplify the received RF signal in such a mannerthat an output signal generated by the low noise amplifier 212 has avery little additional noise.

The mixer 214 in the RFE circuit 210 may comprise suitable circuitryand/or logic that may be adapted to mix an output of the low noiseamplifier 212 with an oscillator signal generated by the oscillator 216.The oscillator 216 may comprise suitable circuitry and/or logic that maybe adapted to provide a oscillating signal that may be adapted to mixthe output signal generated from the output of the low noise amplifier212 down to a baseband. The low noise amplifier (LNA) or amplifier 218may comprise suitable circuitry and/or logic that may be adapted to lownoise amplify and output signal generated by the mixer 214. An output ofthe low noise amplifier or amplifier 218 may be communicated to the lowpass filter 220. The low pass filter 220 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry and/or code that may be adapted to low pass filter the outputsignal generated from the output of the low noise amplifier 220. The lowpass filter block 220 retains a desired signal and filters out unwantedsignal components such as higher signal components comprising noise. Anoutput of the low pass filter 220 may be communicated to theanalog-digital-converter for processing.

The analog-to-digital converter (A/D) 222 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry and/or code that may be adapted to convert the analog signalgenerated from the output of the low pass filter 220 to a digitalsignal. The analog-to-digital converter 222 may generate a sampleddigital representation of the low pass filtered signal that may becommunicated to the baseband-processing block 224 for processing. Thebaseband processing block 224 may comprise suitable logic, circuitryand/or code that may be adapted to process digital baseband signalsreceived from an output of the A/D 222. Although the A/D 222 isillustrated as part of the RFE circuit 210, the invention may not be solimited. Accordingly, the A/D 222 may be integrated as part of thebaseband processing block 224. In operation, the RFE circuit 210 isadapted to receive RF signals via antenna 211 and convert the receivedRF signals to a sampled digital representation, which may becommunicated to the baseband processing block 224 for processing.

FIG. 2 c is a block diagram of exemplary RF receiver system, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2 c,the RF receiver system 250 may comprise a receiver front end 252, abaseband processor 254, a processor 256, and a system memory 258. Thereceiver front end 252 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may be adapted to receive an RF signal. The receiver front end252 may be coupled to an external antenna for signal reception and maydemodulate a received RF signal before further processing. Moreover, thereceiver front end 252 may comprise other functions, for example,filtering the received RF signal, amplifying the received RF signal,and/or downconverting the received RF signal to an analog basebandsignal. The receiver front end 252 may also convert the analog basebandsignal to a digital baseband signal.

The baseband processor 254 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and/or code that may be adapted to process received baseband signalsfrom the receiver front end 252. The processor 256 may comprise suitablelogic, circuitry, and/or code that may be adapted to control theoperations of the receiver front end 252 and/or the baseband processor254. For example, the processor 256 may be utilized to update and/ormodify programmable parameters and/or values in a plurality ofcomponents, devices, and/or processing elements in the receiver frontend 252 and/or the baseband processor 254. Control and/or datainformation may be transferred from at least one controller and/orprocessor external to the RF receiver system 250 to the processor 256.Similarly, the processor 256 may transfer control and/or datainformation to at least one controller and/or processor external to theRF receiver system 250.

The processor 256 may utilize the received control and/or datainformation to determine a mode of operation for the receiver front end252. For example, the processor 156 may select a specific frequency fora local oscillator, or a specific gain for a variable gain amplifier.Moreover, the specific frequency selected and/or parameters needed tocalculate the specific frequency, and/or the specific gain value and/orthe parameters needed to calculate the specific gain, may be stored inthe system memory 258 via the controller/processor 256. This informationstored in system memory 258 may be transferred to the receiver front end252 from the system memory 258 via the controller/processor 256. Thesystem memory 258 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or codethat may be adapted to store a plurality of control and/or datainformation, including parameters needed to calculate frequencies and/orgain, and/or the frequency value and/or gain value.

FIG. 3 a is a high-level block diagram illustrating exemplary radiofrequency integrated circuit (RFIC) and baseband processor (BBP)configuration that may be utilized in connection with an embodiment ofthe invention. Referring to FIG. 3 a, there is shown a RFIC 310 and aBBP 320. The RFIC 310 may also be referred to as a RF front end (RFFE)and may comprise at least one receiver front end (RFE) processingcircuit adapted to process a cellular channel and at least one receiverfront end (RFE) processing circuit adapted to process a VHF/UHFbroadcast channel. In an embodiment of the invention, the RFIC 310 maycomprise a plurality of receiver front ends (RFEs) 312 . . . 314, and316. The BBP 320 may comprise a BBP integrated circuit (BBPIC) 322, andthe BBPIC 322 may comprise an advanced microcontroller bus architecture(AMBA) bus interface 323. The RFIC 310 may communicate signals to theBBP 320.

Each of the plurality of RFEs 312, . . . , 314, and 316 in the RFIC 310may be substantially similar to the RFE 210 illustrated in FIG. 2 b andmay function in a similar manner. Each of the plurality of RFEs 312 . .. 314, and 316 may be adapted to receive and process RF signals based onat least one of a plurality of wireless communication standards, forexample, GSM, UMTS, WCDMA, CDMA2000, EDGE, DVB-H, or other accesstechnology. A RFE may comprise circuitry that may be adapted to receiveRF signals and generate an output comprising a digital baseband signalthat may be communicated to the BBPIC 322 in the BBP 320. The BBPIC 322may comprise suitable logic, circuitry and/or code that may be adaptedto receive and process the digital baseband signals from the RFIC 310.The processed signal from the BBPIC 322 may be communicated to at leastone of a plurality of devices, for example, a visual display or thespeaker.

The AMBA bus interface 323 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry and/orcode that may be adapted to communicate with other processors, forexample, a central processor unit (CPU) and/or digital signal processors(DSPs). By utilizing the AMBA bus interface 323, the BBPIC 322 mayexchange information, for example, commands and/or data, with otherprocessors, for example, processor 256 (FIG. 2 c), such that desiredfunctionalities may be executed. For example, the BBPIC 322 may receivea digital file of a photograph and may store the digital file in memory,for example, system memory 258 (FIG. 2 c). The BBPIC 322 may thencommunicate the parameters of the digital file, for example, the startaddress in the memory where the digital file may be stored, the size ofthe digital file, etc., to the processor 256. The processor 256 mayprocess user input and may retrieve the digital file of the photographfor output on the visual display.

In operation, the plurality of RFEs 312 . . . 314, and 316 may receiveand process a plurality of RF signals. Each of the plurality of RFEs 312. . . 314, and 316 may downconvert one of the plurality of RF signals toan analog baseband signal, and further convert the analog basebandsignal to a digital baseband signal. For example, the plurality of RFEs312, . . . , 314 may be adapted to receive and process cellular channels1 . . . N−1, where cellular channel 1 may be UMTS signal and cellularchannel N−1 may be WCDMA signal. RFE 316 may be adapted to receive andprocess a VHF/UHF broadcast channel. The VHF/UHF broadcast channel maybe transmitted utilizing the DVB-H standard. A digital baseband signalmay then be communicated to the BBPIC 322, and the BBPIC 322 may processthe digital baseband signal. The BBPIC 322 may also communicate with theprocessor 256 via the AMBA bus interface 323 with regard to the statusof the processed signal, which the BBPIC 322 may have stored to a memorylocation. The processor 256 may retrieve the file and executeappropriate steps, for example, display the photograph as in the exampleabove.

FIG. 3 b is a block diagram illustrating exemplary baseband processorintegrated circuit (BBPIC), such as, for example, the BBPIC of FIG. 3 a,in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3b, there is shown a plurality of baseband processing modules 324, . . ., 326, and 328. The plurality of baseband processing modules 324, . . ., 326, and 328 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry and/or code thatmay be adapted to process at least one of a plurality of basebandsignals. The plurality of baseband signals may have been converted fromRF signals that may have been transmitted by systems that may complywith at least one of a plurality of cellular communication standardsand/or VHF/UHF broadcast standard. Examples of cellular communicationstandards may be GSM, GPRS, EDGE, wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA2000,HSDPA, and multiple broadcast/multicast service (MBMS). Examples of theVHF/UHF broadcast standards may be DVB, ATSC and ISDB.

In operation, the BBPIC 322 may receive a plurality of digital basebandsignals from the RFIC 310 (FIG. 3 a). The plurality of basebandprocessing modules 324, . . . , 326, and 328 may process at least one ofthe digital baseband signals, and the processed signals may becommunicated to at least one of a plurality of devices, for example, aspeaker or visual display.

FIG. 3 c is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary coupling of theBBPIC of FIG. 3 a to a plurality of peripherals, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3 c, there is shown aBBPIC 320, a FLASH memory 330, random access memory (RAM) 332, a powermanagement unit (PMU) 334, and a plurality of peripherals 336, 338, 340,342, 344, 346, 348, and 350. The BBPIC 320 may be coupled to the FLASHmemory 330 and the RAM 332 via a memory interface, to the PMU 334 via acontrol interface, and to the plurality of peripherals 336, 338, 340,342, 344, 346, 348, and 350 via a peripheral interface. Additionally,the BBPIC 320 may receive inputs signals, for example, digital basebandsignals from, for example, the RFIC 310 (FIG. 3 a).

The FLASH memory 330 may comprise suitable logic and/or circuitry thatmay be adapted to store data and/or code in a non-volatile manner, whereeach memory address may be written multiple times, and the contents ofeach memory address may be randomly accessed. The RAM 332 may comprisesuitable logic and/or circuitry that may be adapted for storing dataand/or code in a volatile manner, where each memory address may bewritten multiple times, and each memory address may be randomly accessedfor read and write operations. The PMU 334 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry and/or code that may be adapted for controlling power usage byvarious devices. The plurality of peripherals 336, 338, 340, 342, 344,346, 348, and 350 may provide input to or receive output from the BBPIC320. For example, the peripheral 342 may provide communication access toa wireless local area network (WLAN) and the peripheral 348 may providecommunication access to Bluetooth devices. The peripheral 346 may be auniversal subscriber identity module (USIM), in which the USIM maycontain relevant information that enables access onto a subscribedoperator's GSM and/or UMTS network.

In operation, the BBPIC 320 may receive digital baseband signals fromthe RFIC 310 (FIG. 3 a), and these signals may be processed as describedin FIG. 3 b. Using the example from FIG. 3 b, the processed signal mayresult in a digital file of a photograph. The photograph file may bestored in RAM 332. The user of a device that may implement an embodimentof the invention may wish to save the digital file of the photograph toFLASH memory 330 so that the digital file of the photograph will not belost when the device is powered off. The BBPIC 320 may communicate withthe FLASH memory 330 and the RAM 332 via a memory interface, forexample, a serial random access memory (SRAM) bus. The user of thedevice may also send the photograph file from the FLASH memory 330 toanother device, for example, a printer on a computer network via theperipheral 342. The peripheral 342 may be a WLAN interface that providesaccess to the WLAN, and hence to the printer.

The PMU 334 may monitor the baseband processing modules 324, . . . ,326, and 328 (FIG. 3 b) and may indicate to the BBPIC 320 that RFdevices, for example, amplifiers, or analog-to-digital converters,associated with at least one baseband processing module may be powereddown, or placed in stand-by mode. This may occur when the PMU 334 doesnot detect any valid signal being processed by at least one of thebaseband processing modules 324, . . . , 326, and 328. The PMU 334 mayindicate to the BBPIC 320 to power up, or placed in active mode, the RFdevices that may have been placed in stand-by mode. The PMU 334 may thenmonitor the relevant baseband processing module to try to detect a validsignal. If there still is no valid signal detected, then the RF devicesassociated with the baseband processing module may enter the stand-bymode. If there is a valid signal detected, then the RF devicesassociated with the baseband processing module may be left in activemode. The PMU 334 and the BBPIC 320 may communicate with each other viaa bus, for example, the inter-integrated circuit (I²C) bus.

FIG. 3 d is a block diagram illustrating exemplary coupling of the BBPICof FIG. 3 a to a plurality of peripherals, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3 d, there is shown theBBPIC 320, the FLASH memory 330, the RAM 332, the PMU 334, plurality ofperipherals 336, 338, 340, 342, 344, 346, 348, and 350. FIG. 3 d furthercomprises antennas 360 and 376, a diplexer 362, power amplifiers (PAs)364 and 370, RFFEs 366 and 368, receiver front end (RFE) 374, and areference clock 372.

The BBPIC 320 may be coupled as described with respect to FIG. 3 c.Additionally, the BBPIC 320 may be coupled to the RFFEs 366 and 368, thereference clock 372, and the RFE 374. The RFE 374 may also be coupled tothe antenna 376. The reference clock 374 may be coupled to the RFFEs 366and 368 and the RFE 374, in addition to the BBPIC 320. The RFFE 366 maybe coupled to the PA 364, and the RFFE 368 may be coupled to the PA 370.The PAs 364 and 370 may be coupled to the diplexer 362, and the diplexer362 may be coupled to the antenna 360.

The antennas 360 and 376 may comprise suitable logic and/or circuitrythat may be adapted to receive and transmit RF signals. The diplexer 362may comprise suitable logic and/or circuitry that may be adapted toisolate received signals from transmitted signals. This may allowreceived signals from being corrupted by much stronger transmittedsignals. The diplexer 362 may also allow transmission of signals frommultiple RFFEs, for example, RFFEs 366 and 368, to the same transmissionantenna, for example, antenna 360.

The reference clock 372 may comprise suitable logic and/or circuitrythat may be adapted to provide a clocking signal to the RFFEs 366 and368, to the RFE 374, and to the BBPIC 320. The clocking signal may beutilized by various devices, for example, analog-to-digital converters,digital-to-analog converters, and latching devices that may receivedigital data. The PAs 364 and 370 may comprise suitable logic and/orcircuitry that may be adapted to amplify an analog signal sufficientlyso that when the analog signal is transmitted by an antenna, forexample, antenna 360 or 376, the transmitted signal may have sufficientstrength that it may appear as a valid signal to a device receiving thetransmitted signal, for example, a cellular base station.

The RFFEs 366 and 368 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry and/or codethat may be adapted to receive a digital baseband signal, convert it toan analog signal and upconvert it to RF frequency so that it may betransmitted by an antenna, for example the antenna 360. The RFFEs 366and 368 and the RFE 374 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry and/orcode that may be adapted to receive a RF signal from an antenna, forexample, antenna 376, and downconvert it to an analog baseband signal.The RFFEs 366 and 368 may convert the analog baseband signal to adigital baseband signal.

In operation, a RF signal may be received by the antenna 360, and the RFsignal may be communicated to the diplexer 362. The diplexer 362 maycommunicate the signal to the RFFEs 366 and 368, and the RFFEs 366 and368 may communicate digital baseband signals to the BBPIC 320.Similarly, a RF signal may be received by the antenna 376, and the RFsignal may be communicated to the RFE 374. The RFE 374 may communicate adigital baseband signal to the BBPIC 320. The BBPIC 320 may process thedigital baseband signals as described with respect to FIG. 3 b and FIG.3 c.

During transmission, the BBPIC 320 may communicate digital basebandsignals to at least one of the RFFEs 366 and 368. The RFFEs 366 and 368may convert the digital baseband signals to analogs signals, and thenupconvert the analog signals to RF signals. The RF signals may then becommunicated to the PAs 364 and 370, respectively, by the RFFEs 366 and368. The PAs 364 and 370 may amplify the RF signals and communicate theamplified RF signals to the diplexer 362 which may combine the amplifiedRF signals and communicate the combined RF signal to the antenna 360.The PMU 334, FLASH memory 330, the RAM 332, and the plurality ofperipherals 336, 338, 340, 342, 344, 346, 348, and 350 may function asdescribed in FIG. 3 c.

FIG. 3 e is a block diagram illustrating exemplary coupling of the BBPICof FIG. 3 a to a plurality of peripherals, including RFFEs and a singleantenna, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 3 e, there is shown the BBPIC 320, the FLASH memory 330, the RAM332, the PMU 334, plurality of peripherals 336, 338, 340, 342, 344, 346,348, and 350. There is further shown an antenna 360, a diplexer 362,power amplifiers (PAs) 364 and 370, RFFEs 366 and 368, receiver frontend (RFE) 374, and a reference clock 372.

The various devices illustrated in FIG. 3 e may be coupled as describedwith respect to FIG. 3 d with a few exceptions. The antenna 360 may notbe coupled to the RFE 374. Rather, the antenna 360 may be coupled to thediplexer 362, and the diplexer 362 may be coupled to the RFE 374.Therefore, the diplexer 362 may also communicate received RF signals tothe RFE 374 to the RFFEs 366 and 368. The diplexer may also becommunicated amplified RF signals from the PAs 364 and 370. In thisregard, all RF reception and transmission may be via the antenna 360.The devices in FIG. 3 e may function as described with respect to FIGS.3 b, 3 c and 3 d.

FIG. 3 f is an exemplary flow diagram illustrating receiving an RFsignal, converting the RF signal to a baseband signal, and calculatingand feeding back quality of service (QOS) information, in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3 f, in step 380,a VHF/UHF broadcast signal may be received at the antenna. In step 381,the VHF/UHF broadcast RF signal may be converted to a baseband signal.In step 382, a cellular RF signal may be received at the antenna. Instep 383, the cellular RF signal may be converted to a baseband signal.In step 384, the baseband signal may be processed. The processedbaseband signal may be further processed in step 385 and/or it may becommunicated to other devices. For example, the processed basebandsignal may be communicated to a WLAN peripheral interface andtransmitted to a WLAN device. In step 385, QOS information may becalculated from the baseband signals. In step 386, the QOS informationmay be fed back to a service provider, for example, service provider 106(FIG. 1 e).

Referring to FIGS. 2 b, 3 b, 3 d and 3 f, there is shown a plurality ofsteps 380 to 386 that may be utilized to receive a RF signal, which maybe a cellular communication signal, or cellular broadcast signal or aVHF/UHF broadcast signal. In step 380, a VHF/UHF broadcast RF signal maybe received by the antenna 376 and the VHF/UHF broadcast RF signal maybe, for example, DVB-H signal. The received signal may be communicatedto the RFE 374. In step 381, the RFE 374 may downconvert the VHF/UHFbroadcast RF signal to an analog baseband signal, and then convert theanalog baseband signal to a digital baseband signal via ananalog-to-digital converter 222. The digital baseband signal may becommunicated to the BBPIC 320. In step 384, the digital baseband signalmay be processed by one of a plurality of baseband processing modules324, . . . , 326, and 328.

In step 382, a cellular RF signal may be received by the antenna 360,and the cellular RF signal may be communicated to the diplexer 362. Thediplexer 362 may then communicate the cellular RF signal to the RFFEs366 and 368. In step 383, the RFFEs 366 and 388 may downconvert thecellular RF signal to an analog baseband signal, and then convert theanalog baseband signal to a digital baseband signal via theanalog-to-digital converter 222. The digital baseband signal may becommunicated to the BBPIC 320. In step 384, the digital baseband signalmay be processed by one of a plurality of baseband processing modules324, . . . , 326, and 328.

In step 385, QOS information may be calculated from the processedbaseband signal. In step 386, the QOS information may be fed back to aservice provider 106, and the service provider 106 may optionally takemeasures based on the QOS information. For example, the service provider106 may decide to switch transmission of requested information fromVHF/UHF broadcast provider to a cellular broadcast provider.

Although the QOS information is described as being calculated from theprocessed baseband signal, the invention need not be so limited. The QOSinformation may also be derived from other channel conditions such as,for example, signal to noise ratio, from a received signal strengthindicator, an indication of throughput, and/or a statistical analysis ofthe received signal that may be utilized to indicate received signalquality. Depending on the channel conditions, the service provider 106may change the characteristic of the transmitted signal by, for example,reducing the bit rate to decrease the probability of bit errors in thereceived signal.

QOS may also refer to the content of the information received by themobile terminal. For example, a user at the mobile terminal may requestthat songs be delivered in MP3 format encoded at 192 Kbits/sec, and mayfurther request that encoded bit rates of less than 128 Kbits/sec maynot be acceptable. The service provider 106 may try to meet the desiredrequirements, but if delivery of 192 Kbits/sec encoded MP3 files cannotbe supported, the service provider 106 may provide 128 Kbits/sec encodedMP3 files. If the bandwidth is not available for the 128 Kbits/secencoded MP3 files, then the service provider may not deliver any MP3files at all until a later time.

Similarly, a user at the mobile terminal may request video files with ahigh resolution level, and may further request that a minimum acceptableresolution may be medium resolution level. The service provider 106 maysend some video files at the high resolution level when the bandwidth isavailable. The service provider 106 may send some video files at themedium resolution level if bandwidth usage increases to a point wherethe high resolution level cannot be supported. If bandwidth usageincreases still further that video files can only be delivered at lowresolution levels, the service provider 106 may not deliver any morevideo files until bandwidth usage decreases.

FIG. 3 g is a block diagram illustrating exemplary communication betweena mobile terminal and a plurality of different communication paths, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3 g,there is shown a mobile terminal 390 that comprises a RF processingcircuit 392 and a baseband processing circuit 394. The mobile terminal390 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may beadapted to communicate and process information from a plurality ofdifferent networks. In this regard, the mobile terminal 390 may receiveinformation, which may comprise voice, data, images, video and/orapplications, via a VHF/UHF communication path, a bi-directionalcellular communication path, and/or a downlink cellular communicationpath. The mobile terminal 390 may also be adapted to transmitinformation via the bi-directional cellular communication path. In thisregard, the transmitted information may be associated with informationreceived from the VHF/UHF communication path, the bi-directionalcellular communication path, or the downlink cellular communicationpath.

The RF processing circuit 392 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and/or code that may be adapted to process RF signals received via aVHF/UHF communication path, bi-directional cellular servicecommunication path, and/or the downlink cellular communication path. TheRF processing circuit 392 may also be adapted to process RF signals thatmay be transmitted to a bi-directional cellular service communicationpath. The baseband processing circuit 394 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, and/or code that may be adapted to process broadcastinformation from, for example, the VHF/UHF communication path, and/orcellular information from, for example, the bi-directional cellularcommunication path, and/or the downlink cellular communication path. Inthis regard, the baseband processing circuit 394 may comprise differentportions that may process information from different cellularcommunication paths and from VHF/UHF communication path.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the mobile terminal 390 maynegotiate with the service provider 106 via the bi-directional cellularcommunication path to establish a quality of service level that may beacceptable to the mobile terminal 390. The mobile terminal 390 mayrequest media from a service provider 106 via the bi-directionalcellular communication path. The service provider 106 may respond bytransmitting the requested media via a VHF/UHF communication path, forexample, by using the DVB standard. The service provider 106 may alsotransmit the requested media via a downlink cellular communication path,for example, by using the MBMS standard. The service provider 106 mayfurther transmit the requested media via the bi-directional cellularcommunication path. A plurality of cellular standards may be used fortransmission via the bi-directional cellular communication path, forexample, UMTS, GSM, GPRS, EDGE, CDMA2000, WCDMA, and HSDPA. The mobileterminal 390 may determine the quality of service of requested orreceived media, as described with respect to FIG. 3 f, and may reportthe determined quality of service to the service provider 106.

Although some embodiments of the invention have been described, theinvention is not so limited. For example, the FIGS. 3 d and 3 e may bemodified to include a third RFFE for handling CDMA2000 RF signals.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, aspects of anexemplary system may comprise, for example, the mobile terminal 390requesting via a cellular service, media having a specified quality ofservice to be delivered to the mobile terminal 390. The requested mediamay be received via a single integrated cellular and VHF/UHF basebandprocessor, for example, the baseband processing circuit 394 within themobile terminal 390, from the cellular service and/or a broadcastservice. Some exemplary cellular service and broadcast services arediscussed with respect to FIGS. 1 a-1 d, as well as in other figures.

The broadcast service may comprise, for example, a cellular broadcastservice and/or a VHF/UHF broadcast service. The VHF/UHF broadcastservice may comprise, for example, a digital video broadcasting (DVB)service, an integrated service digital broadcasting (ISDB) service, anintegrated service digital broadcasting terrestrial (ISDB-T) service,and/or an advanced standards technical committee (ATSC) broadcastservice. The mobile terminal 390 may consume the received requestedmedia, for example, by processing the received media for a user tolisten to or view the processed information.

The mobile terminal 390 may generate a request for the delivery of mediacomprising the specified quality of service. The request may be madeusing, for example, various circuitry such as the processor 256, the RFprocessing circuit 392, and/or the baseband processing circuit 394. Themobile terminal 390 may also negotiate for a specified quality ofservice. The processor 256 may negotiate, for example, using informationprovided by one or more circuits such as, for example, the RF processingcircuit 392, and/or the baseband processing circuit 394. The negotiationmay occur, for example, between the mobile terminal 390 and the cellularservice and/or the broadcast service. The cellular service and/or thebroadcast service may affect, for example, negotiation with the serviceprovider 106. The mobile terminal 390 may determine, for example, aquality of service based on a received channel condition. The quality ofservice determined by the mobile terminal 390 for use in negotiation maybe based on various factors such as, for example, signal to noise ratio,received signal strength, and/or bit error rate. The quality of servicemay be determined with the aid of various circuitry such as, forexample, the processor 256, the RF processing circuit 392, and/or thebaseband processing circuit 394.

Various circuitry, such as, for example, the processor 256, the RFprocessing circuit 392, and/or the baseband processing circuit 394 inthe mobile terminal 390 may enable dynamically switching of receivingthe requested media from the cellular service to receiving from thebroadcast service when the cellular service may not be able to supportthe specified quality of service, but the broadcast service may be ableto support the quality of service. Similarly, the mobile terminal 390may dynamically switch receiving the requested media from the broadcastservice to receiving from the cellular service. Similar circuitry mayalso allow simultaneously receiving a first portion of the requestedmedia with the specified quality of service from the broadcast serviceand a second portion of the requested media with the specified qualityof service from the cellular service.

Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine-readablestorage, having stored thereon, a computer program having at least onecode section executable by a machine, thereby causing the machine toperform the steps as described above for cellular network services andan intelligent integrated broadcast television downlink havingintelligent service control with feedback.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and, which, when loaded in a computersystem is able to carry out these methods. Computer program in thepresent context means any expression, in any language, code or notation,of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having aninformation processing capability to perform a particular functioneither directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversionto another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a differentmaterial form.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1-30. (canceled)
 31. A method of communicating in a plurality ofcommunication networks, the method comprising: requesting by a mobileterminal via a cellular service, media to be delivered to said mobileterminal and a specified quality of service; and receiving by saidmobile terminal via a single integrated cellular and VHF/UHF basebandprocessor within said mobile terminal, said requested media with saidspecified quality of service from one or both of said cellular serviceand a broadcast service.
 32. The method according to claim 31, whereinsaid mobile terminal communicates with said cellular service via uplinkand downlink communication paths.
 33. The method according to claim 31,wherein said broadcast service comprises a cellular broadcast serviceand a VHF/UHF broadcast service.
 34. The method according to claim 33,wherein said cellular broadcast service is a downlink only cellularbroadcast service.
 35. The method according to claim 33, wherein saidcellular broadcast service and said cellular service are provided via awireless service provider.
 36. The method according to claim 33, whereinsaid VHF/UHF broadcast service comprises a digital video broadcasting(DVB) service, an integrated service digital broadcasting (ISDB)terrestrial service and an advanced television systems committee (ATSC)broadcast service.
 37. The method according to claim 31, wherein saidbroadcast service comprises a cellular broadcast service.
 38. The methodaccording to claim 37, wherein said cellular broadcast service is adownlink only cellular broadcast service.
 39. The method according toclaim 37, wherein said cellular broadcast service and said cellularservice are provided via a wireless service provider.
 40. The methodaccording to claim 31, wherein said broadcast service comprises aVHF/UHF broadcast service.
 41. The method according to claim 40, whereinsaid VHF/UHF broadcast service comprises a digital video broadcasting(DVB) service, an integrated service digital broadcasting (ISDB)terrestrial service and an advanced television systems committee (ATSC)broadcast service.
 42. The method according to claim 40, wherein saidVHF/UHF broadcast service comprises a digital video broadcasting (DVB)service.
 43. The method according to claim 40, wherein said VHF/UHFbroadcast service comprises an integrated service digital broadcasting(ISDB) service.
 44. The method according to claim 40, wherein saidVHF/UHF broadcast service comprises an integrated service digitalbroadcasting terrestrial (ISDB-T) service.
 45. The method according toclaim 40, wherein said VHF/UHF broadcast service comprises an advancedtelevision systems committee (ATSC) broadcast service.
 46. The methodaccording to claim 31, comprising generating within said mobileterminal, a request for said delivery of media and said specifiedquality of service.
 47. The method according to claim 31, comprisingconsuming said received requested media by said mobile terminal.
 48. Themethod according to claim 31, comprising negotiating said specifiedquality of service.
 49. The method according to claim 48, wherein saidnegotiating occurs between said mobile terminal, and said cellularservice and said broadcast service.
 50. The method according to claim48, wherein said negotiating occurs between said mobile terminal andsaid cellular service.
 51. The method according to claim 48, whereinsaid negotiating occurs between said mobile terminal and said broadcastservice.
 52. The method according to claim 31, comprising determiningsaid specified quality of service based on a received channel condition.53. The method according to claim 31, comprising dynamically switchingreceiving said requested media with said specified quality of servicefrom said cellular service to receiving from said broadcast service,when said specified quality of service cannot be supported by saidcellular service, but said specified quality of service can be supportedby said broadcast service.
 54. The method according to claim 31,comprising dynamically switching receiving said requested media withsaid specified quality of service from said broadcast service toreceiving from said cellular service, when said specified quality ofservice cannot be supported by said broadcast service, but saidspecified quality of service can be supported by said cellular service.55. The method according to claim 31, comprising simultaneouslyreceiving a first portion of said requested media with said specifiedquality of service from said broadcast service and a second portion ofsaid requested media with said specified quality of service from saidcellular service.
 56. The method according to claim 31, wherein saidreceived requested media is received from one or more of: global systemfor mobile communications (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS),enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), code division multipleaccess 2000 (CDMA2000), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), high speed downlinkpacket access (HSDPA) systems, and multiple broadcast/multicast service(MBMS).
 57. A machine-readable storage having stored thereon, a computerprogram having at least one code section for communicating in aplurality of communication networks, the at least one code section beingexecutable by a machine for causing the machine to perform stepscomprising: requesting by a mobile terminal via a cellular service,media be delivered to said mobile terminal and a specified quality ofservice; and receiving by said mobile terminal via a single integratedcellular and VHF/UHF baseband processor within said mobile terminal,said requested media with said specified quality of service from one orboth of said cellular service and a broadcast service.
 58. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 57, wherein said mobileterminal communicates with said cellular service via uplink and downlinkcommunication paths.
 59. The machine-readable storage according to claim57, wherein said broadcast service comprises a cellular broadcastservice and a VHF/UHF broadcast service.
 60. The machine-readablestorage according to claim 59, wherein said cellular broadcast serviceis a downlink only cellular broadcast service.
 61. The machine-readablestorage according to claim 59, wherein said cellular broadcast serviceand said cellular service are provided via a wireless service provider.62. The machine-readable storage according to claim 59, wherein saidVHF/UHF broadcast service comprises a digital video broadcasting (DVB)service, an integrated service digital broadcasting (ISDB) terrestrialservice and an advanced television systems committee (ATSC) broadcastservice.
 63. The machine-readable storage according to claim 57, whereinsaid broadcast service comprises a cellular broadcast service.
 64. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 63, wherein said cellularbroadcast service is a downlink only cellular broadcast service.
 65. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 63, wherein said cellularbroadcast service and said cellular service are provided via a wirelessservice provider.
 66. The machine-readable storage according to claim57, wherein said broadcast service comprises a VHF/UHF broadcastservice.
 67. The machine-readable storage according to claim 66, whereinsaid VHF/UHF broadcast service comprises a digital video broadcasting(DVB) service, an integrated service digital broadcasting (ISDB)terrestrial service and an advanced television systems committee (ATSC)broadcast service.
 68. The machine-readable storage according to claim66, wherein said VHF/UHF broadcast service comprises a digital videobroadcasting (DVB) service.
 69. The machine-readable storage accordingto claim 66, wherein said VHF/UHF broadcast service comprises anintegrated service digital broadcasting (ISDB) service.
 70. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 66, wherein said VHF/UHFbroadcast service comprises an integrated service digital broadcastingterrestrial (ISDB-T) service.
 71. The machine-readable storage accordingto claim 66, wherein said VHF/UHF broadcast service comprises anadvanced television systems committee (ATSC) broadcast service.
 72. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 57, wherein said at leastone code section comprises code for generating within said mobileterminal, a request for said delivery of media and said specifiedquality of service.
 73. The machine-readable storage according to claim57, wherein said at least one code section comprises code for consumingsaid received requested media by said mobile terminal.
 74. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 57, wherein said at leastone code section comprises code for negotiating said specified qualityof service.
 75. The machine-readable storage according to claim 74,wherein said negotiating occurs between said mobile terminal, and saidcellular service and said broadcast service.
 76. The machine-readablestorage according to claim 74, wherein said negotiating occurs betweensaid mobile terminal and said cellular service.
 77. The machine-readablestorage according to claim 74, wherein said negotiating occurs betweensaid mobile terminal and said broadcast service.
 78. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 57, wherein said at leastone code section comprises code for determining said specified qualityof service based on a received channel condition.
 79. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 57, wherein said at leastone code section comprises code for dynamically switching receiving saidrequested media with said specified quality of service from saidcellular service to receiving from said broadcast service, when saidspecified quality of service cannot be supported by said cellularservice, but said specified quality of service can be supported by saidbroadcast service.
 80. The machine-readable storage according to claim57, wherein said at least one code section comprises code fordynamically switching receiving said requested media with said specifiedquality of service from said broadcast service to receiving from saidcellular service, when said specified quality of service cannot besupported by said broadcast service, but said specified quality ofservice can be supported by said cellular service.
 81. Themachine-readable storage according to claim 57, wherein said at leastone code section comprises code for simultaneously receiving a firstportion of said requested media with said specified quality of servicefrom said broadcast service and a second portion of said requested mediawith said specified quality of service from said cellular service. 82.The machine-readable storage to claim 57, wherein said receivedrequested media is received from one or more of: global system formobile communications (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS),enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), code division multipleaccess 2000 (CDMA2000), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), high speed downlinkpacket access (HSDPA) systems, and multiple broadcast/multicast service(MBMS).
 83. A system of communicating in a plurality of communicationnetworks, the system comprising: a mobile terminal operable to requestvia a cellular service, media to be delivered to said mobile terminaland a specified quality of service; and said mobile terminal operable toreceive, via a single integrated cellular and VHF/UHF baseband processorwithin said mobile terminal receiving said requested media with saidspecified quality of service from one or both of said cellular serviceand a broadcast service.
 84. The system according to claim 83, whereinsaid mobile terminal communicates with said cellular service via uplinkand downlink communication paths.
 85. The system according to claim 83,wherein said broadcast service comprises a cellular broadcast serviceand a VHF/UHF broadcast service.
 86. The system according to claim 85,wherein said cellular broadcast service is a downlink only cellularbroadcast service.
 87. The system according to claim 85, wherein saidcellular broadcast service and said cellular service are provided via awireless service provider.
 88. The system according to claim 85, whereinsaid VHF/UHF broadcast service comprises a digital video broadcasting(DVB) service, an integrated service digital broadcasting (ISDB)terrestrial service and an advanced television systems committee (ATSC)broadcast service.
 89. The system according to claim 83, wherein saidbroadcast service comprises a cellular broadcast service.
 90. The systemaccording to claim 89, wherein said cellular broadcast service is adownlink only cellular broadcast service.
 91. The system according toclaim 89, wherein said cellular broadcast service and said cellularservice are provided via a wireless service provider.
 92. The systemaccording to claim 83, wherein said broadcast service comprises aVHF/UHF broadcast service.
 93. The system according to claim 92, whereinsaid VHF/UHF broadcast service comprises a digital video broadcasting(DVB) service, an integrated service digital broadcasting (ISDB)terrestrial service and an advanced television systems committee (ATSC)broadcast service.
 94. The system according to claim 92, wherein saidVHF/UHF broadcast service comprises a digital video broadcasting (DVB)service.
 95. The system according to claim 92, wherein said VHF/UHFbroadcast service comprises an integrated service digital broadcasting(ISDB) service.
 96. The system according to claim 92, wherein saidVHF/UHF broadcast service comprises an integrated service digitalbroadcasting terrestrial (ISDB-T) service.
 97. The system according toclaim 92, wherein said VHF/UHF broadcast service comprises an advancedtelevision systems committee (ATSC) broadcast service.
 98. The systemaccording to claim 83, wherein said mobile terminal enables generationof a request for said delivery of media and said specified quality ofservice.
 99. The system according to claim 83, wherein said mobileterminal consumes said received requested media.
 100. The systemaccording to claim 83, comprising one or more circuits in said mobileterminal that enables negotiating of said specified quality of service.101. The system according to claim 100, wherein said negotiating occursbetween said mobile terminal, and said cellular service and saidbroadcast service.
 102. The system according to claim 100, wherein saidnegotiating occurs between said mobile terminal and said cellularservice.
 103. The system according to claim 100, wherein saidnegotiating occurs between said mobile terminal and said broadcastservice.
 104. The system according to claim 83, comprising one or morecircuits in said mobile terminal that enables determination of saidspecified quality of service based on a received channel condition. 105.The system according to claim 83, comprising one or more circuits insaid mobile terminal that enables dynamically switching receiving ofsaid requested media with said specified quality of service from saidcellular service to receiving from said broadcast service, when saidspecified quality of service cannot be supported by said cellularservice, but said specified quality of service can be supported by saidbroadcast service.
 106. The system according to claim 83, comprising oneor more circuits in said mobile terminal that enables dynamicallyswitching of receiving said requested media with said specified qualityof service from said broadcast service to receiving from said cellularservice, when said specified quality of service cannot be supported bysaid broadcast service, but said specified quality of service can besupported by said cellular service.
 107. The system according to claim83, comprising one or more circuits in said mobile terminal that enablessimultaneously receiving of a first portion of said requested media withsaid specified quality of service from said broadcast service and asecond portion of said requested media with said specified quality ofservice from said cellular service.
 108. The system according to claim83, wherein said received requested media is received from one or moreof: global system for mobile communications (GSM), general packet radioservice (GPRS), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), codedivision multiple access 2000 (CDMA2000), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), highspeed downlink packet access (HSDPA) systems, and multiplebroadcast/multicast service (MBMS).